Norwalk students coming to school on April 15 were met with assistant principal Tom Scallon addressing students over the intercom, where he revealed that undisclosed incidents had been occurring in the bathrooms.
“There was a long list of students who entered the 900 bathroom,” said Scallon about the bathroom where the incident in question occurred. “Students are usually reluctant to inform us about the wrongdoing of other students.”
The 900 bathroom is located by the Norwalk Physical Education Competition Center (NPECC), and is one of the newest bathrooms at Norwalk.
Scallon said the bathroom situation, as well as loitering in the hallway by students, encouraged him to later make an announcement on Friday, April 18, limiting the number of e-hall passes allotted to each bathroom as well as the hallways. Scallon also said he was frustrated about the lack of accountability among the student body.
“I struggle to understand why students are okay with the destruction of their school,” Scallon said. “They should report it.”
Senior Keegan Johnson said he has been affected by the activities occurring at the bathrooms.
“I was trying to go to the bathroom but it was locked, so I had to find a different bathroom which made me late,” Johnson said after seventh period on April 16. The 900 boys’ bathroom has been closed since the incident, limiting the amount of available bathrooms throughout the school.
Additionally, multiple bathrooms have reportedly been out of paper towels in the past weeks, although it is yet to be confirmed whether or not this is due to the bathrooms being damaged. Bathrooms have also been taped off, or closed for short periods of time over the last few weeks.
Freshman Hagen Reisetter said that he didn’t approve of people destroying school property in the bathrooms and causing problems for others.
“If someone sees that sort of behavior, they should tell them to stop and set a good example,” Reisetter said. “You should turn off sinks and put trash in the trash cans – admins and the janitors shouldn’t have to deal with it and track down people that did it – It’s really not that hard.”
